Corbin wants more Fidelity highs

When the Fidelity Fun Run series starts on Saturday morning, it is going to take an exceptionally talented athlete to outpace the long legs of defending champion Dominic Corbin.

Standing 6 feet, 6 inches, his stride is so long that Corbin gallops around the two-mile course as if it is a sprint. That’s why the 23-year-old information technology specialist ousted previous champ Marius Acker last year and is now Cayman’s king of short-distance road races.

“I’m in great shape for the Fidelity runs,” Corbin said. “I’ve been training hard for the last three months at Anytime with Craig Noble and running with James Murray, so I feel really fit.”

The Fidelity Fun Run races are on Sept. 7, 14 and 21 and start at 7:30 a.m. on Walkers Road, opposite the John Gray High School.

The loop is along Walkers Road to South Church Street, finishing on Denham Thompson Way.

Registration opens at 6:30 a.m. each event day at the starting point. The entry fee is $15 for the entire series or $5 for a single race and includes an event shirt and opportunities to win awards. Last year, more than 300 walkers and runners took part.

Corbin won each run last year and the series overall in a total time of 31:04, just ahead of Marius Acker, the previous year’s overall winner.

Tiffany Cole was the first female finisher of the series with a total time of 40:46.

Rodger Yeomans, aided by his dog, Roxy, won the pet division, and Neal Coleman was the strollers champ.

Corbin added that he expects to be faster than before.

“Last year’s Fidelity was the first road race I really went for, so now I’ve had a year of running, I would be disappointed if I ran it slower,” he said.

“I’ll be expecting Marius and Jason Saunders to challenge for first place this year, but there could always be someone new like myself last year to win all three.”

A former footballer, he nurtured dreams of playing for Manchester United but gave up that ambition once he turned out for the Cayman Buzz Crusaders in the five-a-side league at King’s Sports Club.

“Actually, I had to stop playing after the fifth time of dislocating my knee cap. My knee just doesn’t feel right anymore. So it was a simple choice, football or a working leg.”

He is treating the Fidelity runs as preparation for the 13.1 Cayman half marathon on Dec. 1.

“I’ll be moving more to the track with Derek Larner in the coming year and will begin training for the Cayman Islands half marathon soon.”

Dominic Corbin is fitter and faster than last year. – PHOTOS: RON SHILLINGFORD